Ovoid vehicle photographic booth

ABSTRACT

A vehicle photographic booth is provided that accommodates cameras with lenses with focal lengths that avoid wide angle distortion that is common in low end car photography. The photographic booth has an ovoid hemispherical dome shape with a camera mounted at the apex of the ovoid portion so as to accommodate longer focal length lenses. The overall dimension of the ovoid section of the dome for placement of a camera is determined by the available floor space of a user. The use of an enclosed ovoid hemispherical dome shape that rotates with respect to a stationary stage, or in the alternative a fixed enclosed ovoid hemispherical dome with a rotating stage allows for much less light to be needed as compared to a full open volume. An ovoid shape also provides a smaller fixed footprint than a full structure for an equal camera distance from a subject.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority benefit of U.S. Provisional ApplicationSer. No. 62/832,517 filed 11 Apr. 2019, the contents of which are herebyincorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention in general relates to a system for photographingvehicles; and in particular, to an ovoid hemispherical photographicbooth where an automated process captures a series of vehicle images anduploads the captured images to a web template for display andrecordation.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Online auto sales and auto auctions have been growing in popularity. Oneof the most popular online auctions to buy vehicles from is eBay™. OneBay Motors™, a user can create an account and put their vehicles up forauction. Other popular websites include Cars.com™. Typically, onlinevehicle sales are based solely on images of the vehicle, since the buyeris in a remote location and is unable to view the vehicle in question inperson. Thus, many high-quality images are required of the vehicle frommany perspectives to allow a buyer to gain an understanding of a subjectvehicle's condition and appearance. FIGS. 1A and 1B are typicalnon-studio quality vehicle photographs that are used to list vehiclesfor sale. The images shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B are of low quality andrequire a dedicated employee to move vehicles and physically move aroundthe subject vehicle to take the pictures. The photographer also has tomanually collate the images, name, and upload the files, which is alabor intensive and time-consuming task, considering one photographermay be required to shoot upwards of 75 vehicles a day.

Furthermore, producing high quality images is not only time consuming,but is costly and requires a studio set up. Vehicle images areparticularly hard to obtain without unwanted reflections of thephotographer or the surroundings; however, reflection free images arecritical to be able to discern surface imperfections, scratches, anddents on a vehicle surface. FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate an existingstudio configuration 10 for generating a contrast break line 12 on avehicle with additive lighting. The bottom edge 16 of a light box 14creates the break line 12 between highlight and shadow. FIGS. 3A and 3Billustrate an existing studio configuration 20 for generating a contrastbreak line 12 on a vehicle with subtractive lighting. The bounce filllight is a large source and makes a soft reflection in the sheet metal.A gray wall is added to “subtract” the reflection from the lower half ofthe truck to create contrast and shape.

While these studio shots are effective in creating high quality vehicleimages, the studio shots are not amenable to the high throughputrequired for high volume vehicle sales. Thus, there is a need to be ableto rapidly produce high quality reflection free images of vehicles frommultiple angles and perspectives.

In order to increase throughput for creating high quality vehicle imagesa drive through photographic tunnel as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.10,063,758 issued Aug. 28, 2018 and a circular dome photographic boothas disclosed in U.S. Patent Publication US2018/0160019; both of whichare included herein in their entirety have been implemented. Both thephotographic tunnel and circular dome have a plurality of camerasmounted within the walls for recording images of a vehicle that areuploaded to a database that is used to generate image data from thevehicle positioned in the structure. The systems further include alighting system and a tracking system to actuate one or more of theplurality of cameras and lights in a predetermined sequence andcombination based on the position of the vehicle within the circulardomed structure.

U.S. Pat. No. 9,046,740 issued Jun. 2, 2015 discloses a vehiclephotographic studio with a stationary circular platform a verticalupright curved wall defining a backdrop that partially surrounds theplatform, a front curved overhead member mounted across a side openingin the wall, and a plurality of spaced apart rollers rotatably mountedon a lower end portion of the wall and engaged with the track so as tomount the wall upon the track for undergoing revolvable movement alongthe track and about the platform to relocate the side opening of thewall at any selected angular position in relation to the platform.However, the disclosed concept while providing a controlled backgroundthat eliminates confusing backgrounds of a parking lot as shown in FIG.1B fails to control reflections in the vehicle surface as was previouslyshown in FIG. 1C.

It is further noted that existing photographic booth solutions fail toutilize or accommodate cameras with longer focal length lenses thatavoid wide angle distortion so common in low end car photography. Mostadvertising grade automotive photography of vehicles is shot with a105-135 mm lens, and most dealers shoot in a parking lot with a 28 mmlens.

Thus, there continues to be need for improved photographic chambers thatare able to utilize camera lenses with a greater focal length toeliminate wide angle distortion, while also controlling unwantedreflections in surfaces of vehicles being photographed withinphotographic chambers.

SUMMARY

A system for photographing a vehicle is provided that includes adrive-in booth shaped as an ovoid hemispherical dome having a widersemi-circular portion and a narrower ovoid portion. A camera is mountedat an apex of the ovoid portion at a focal length from the vehicle,where the focal length is greater than a radius of the semi-circularportion, the camera providing images or video to a computing system togenerate 3D data from the vehicle positioned in the drive-in booth. Alighting system is positioned to illuminate an interior of the drive-inbooth, and a tracking system is used to actuate the camera or thelighting system.

A process is provided for photographing a vehicle with the ovoidhemispherical dome that includes positioning the vehicle in the booth,selectively illuminating a first subset of lights arrayed in the booth,and collecting a first photograph of a plurality of photographs of thevehicle with illumination from the first subset of lights. Subsequently,the ovoid hemispherical dome or a circular stage is advanced to a secondposition, and a second subset of lights arrayed in the booth areselectively illuminated to collect a second photograph of a plurality ofphotographs of the vehicle while in motion and with illumination fromthe second subset of lights. The process continues by advancing theovoid hemispherical dome or the circular stage to further positionsuntil a predefined number of photos are obtained.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The subject matter that is regarded as the invention is particularlypointed out and distinctly claimed in the claims at the conclusion ofthe specification. The foregoing and other objects, features, andadvantages of the invention are apparent from the following detaileddescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings inwhich:

FIGS. 1A and 1B are typical non-studio quality vehicle photographs;

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate an existing studio configuration forgenerating a contrast break line on a vehicle with additive lighting;

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate an existing studio configuration forgenerating a contrast break line on a vehicle with subtractive lighting;

FIGS. 4A-4E illustrate a series of views of an ovoid hemispherical domephotographic booth in a partially open configuration with a cameramounted at the apex of the ovoid portion that provides controlledsurface reflections on surfaces of the vehicles being photographed inaccordance with embodiments of the invention: top view (FIG. 4A), leftside view (FIG. 4B), first perspective view (FIG. 4C), wide end ¾ viewwith door closed (FIG. 4D), and a ¾ view of wide end portion with doorin open position (FIG. 4E);

FIG. 5 illustrates a vehicle positioned in the center of a photographicstage, the vehicle being centered in the circular portion of the ovoidhemispherical dome photographic booth as shown in FIGS. 4A-4E;

FIG. 6 illustrates the rotation of the ovoid hemispherical domephotographic booth of FIGS. 4A-4E about a vehicle on a stationary stagewith twelve trigger points for the moving camera;

FIG. 7 is a series of high-quality photographs obtained within thesystem of the ovoid hemispherical dome photographic booth according toembodiments of the invention;

FIG. 8 is a system block diagram of the major components forphotographing vehicles in accordance with embodiments of the invention;and

FIG. 9 is a photograph showing a projection system in accordance with anembodiment of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has utility as a vehicle photographic booth thataccommodates cameras with lenses with focal lengths that avoid wideangle distortion that is common in low end car photography. Embodimentsof the inventive photographic booth have an ovoid hemispherical domeshape with a camera mounted at the apex of the ovoid portion so as toaccommodate longer focal length lenses. The overall dimension of theovoid section of the dome for placement of a camera is determined by theavailable floor space of a user. In vehicle photography it has beendetermined that keeping a forty-foot distance from the vehicle is ideal,which equates to using a 105-135 mm lens on a standard 35 mm camera soas to avoid wide angle distortion in images of the vehicle. In aspecific inventive embodiment, the camera lens has a focal length thatis between 105-135 mm. The use of an enclosed ovoid hemispherical domeshape that rotates with respect to a stationary stage, or in thealternative a fixed enclosed ovoid hemispherical dome with a rotatingstage allows for much less light to be needed as compared to a full openvolume. Furthermore, an ovoid shape also provides a smaller fixedfootprint than a full structure for an equal camera distance from asubject.

In specific inventive embodiments a series of photographs of a vehicleare captured in an automated process and the images are uploaded to aweb template for display and recordation. The images captured inembodiments of the ovoid hemispherical photographic booths havecontrolled reflections from multiple angles and perspectives, and aviewer is able to discern whether there are surface imperfections,scratches, and dents on a vehicle surface. Reflections are controlled inthe ovoid domed chamber with curved walls and a matching contoured doorthat are covered with a light scattering sheet material such as a whitecanvas or gray walls, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 10,063,758 issuedAug. 28, 2018 and a circular dome photographic booth as disclosed inU.S. Patent Publication US2018/0160019A1, both of which are includedherein in their entirety. It is further appreciated that the shell ofthe ovoid domed chamber may be made of light weight composite materialsor plastics.

In specific embodiments of the inventive image capture system, thelighting style used to illuminate the vehicle within the enclosed ovoidchamber configuration is a sunset horizon style of lighting, where thelights are hidden below the curved wall that may be gray or white so asto use a sunset style reflection on the vehicle surface throughsubtractive lighting. A sunset style reflection refers to a hot horizonline on the vehicle with a rapid fall off (i.e., a sunset shot). In someinventive embodiments, light reflection from the sheet metal is hiddenin the resulting images through lighting control. For example, in aspecific embodiment, the lighting around the ovoid dome is controlled insuch a way to maintain a consistent value of the vehicle's reflection.During the rotation, as the sheet metal becomes more efficient, relativeto the camera position, the lighting is adjusted to compensate. It isappreciated that the light is much stronger at the profile view while ittapers off as it approaches a ¾ or ⅞ view. At these angles the rearlighting in the booth must be dimmer to appear consistent throughout.

It is to be understood that in instances where a range of values areprovided herein, that the range is intended to encompass not only theend point values of the range, but also intermediate values of the rangeas explicitly being included within the range and varying by the lastsignificant figure of the range. By way of example, a recited range offrom 1 to 4 is intended to include 1-2, 1-3, 2-4, 3-4, and 1-4.

Embodiments of the inventive enclosable ovoid domed photographic boothprovide a photography stage with horizontal lighting that may beconfigured as subtractive lighting that utilizes a single camera andassociated lighting elements for multi-sequenced photographs of avehicle from various angles when the vehicle is positioned on the stage.In a specific inventive embodiment, the vehicle is positioned on astationary photographic stage, the camera is positioned at the apex ofthe ovoid portion of the hemispherical dome, and the ovoid hemisphericaldome rotates or moves around the vehicle tracing a perimeter path formedas the apex mounted camera rotates with the ovoid hemispherical dome.The movement of the dome is readily performed by a motor or throughmanual manipulation. At least one handhold 41 is provided to facilitatemanual rotation. Alternatively, in an inventive embodiment, thephotographic stage in the enclosable ovoid domed booth may rotate thevehicle past a single camera mounted at the apex of the ovoid portion ofthe circular dome. The use of sequenced and automated image captureallows for the rapid image processing of vehicles for auction sales,dealer records, as well as car condition assessments for rentalagencies, fleet management companies, public safety agencies, municipaland government agencies, etc. A complete set of vehicle images arecollected in between 5 and 90 seconds allowing for high throughputimaging associated with an auto auction or manufacturer.

Embodiments of the inventive enclosable ovoid hemispherical domedphotographic booth allow for a complete set of multi perspective highquality vehicle images to be obtained and recorded into a template orplaced in a shared network folder in less than 90 seconds, and in someinstances in approximately 5, 10, or 15 seconds. Thus, once a subjectvehicle is photographed in the inventive enclosable ovoid hemisphericaldomed photographic booth, the vehicle is available and ready for saleonline based on the uploaded images and VIN uploaded information. Therapid processing time of the inventive enclosable ovoid hemisphericaldomed photographic booth provides images that are equivalent to existingprofessional photographic staging methods that take several minutes toseveral hours to obtain a set of vehicle images. The rapid imageprocessing and recordation of vehicle condition allows for new businessmodels such as creating virtual or cyber dealerships where a wholesalecustomer never takes possession of a subject vehicle, and the vehicle isdropped shipped to the end retail customer. Photos obtained with theinventive system may be sold along with the subject vehicle for use by apurchasing used car retailer, and as it typically takes four days forthe buyer to take delivery of the wholesale vehicle, with instant accessto the vehicle photos the purchaser can start advertising the vehiclefour days prior to physically taking possession of the vehicle.

Embodiments of the inventive enclosable ovoid or elongated circulardomed photographic booth may utilize radio frequency identification(RFID) tags to identify and record vehicles as the vehicles areprocessed through the system. The RFID may be related to the vehicleidentification number (VIN) of a vehicle to be processed. It is furtherappreciated that additional identifiers may be used illustrativelyincluding barcodes that relate to the VIN. Information related to thevehicle, such as vehicle make, model, body style, and color encoded inthe VIN may be used to automatically adjust lighting, the height and/orangle of the gray wall to optimize photographic conditions, as well ascamera height, zoom, and camera placement/position for a subject vehicleto be processed. Through control of lighting and camera firing sequence,the driver of a vehicle is virtually invisible as a result of beinghidden by glass reflection. Further information that may be related tothe RFID or barcode may include a dealership setting that may alsoindicate which dealer the vehicle is being shot for and incorporate thatdealer's specific preferences such as lighting style, file size andformat, number of photo shots and angles to be recorded. RFID or barcode information, read manually or automatically may also be used toproject text onto the background of the shot or overlay text onto thefile during processing, such as price, dealer name, vehiclespecifications, mileage, etc.

Referring now to the figures, FIGS. 4A-4E illustrate a series of viewsof an inventive ovoid hemispherical dome photographic booth 30 withsemi-circular portion 32 and a camera 36 mounted at the apex of theovoid portion 38 that provides controlled surface reflections onsurfaces of the vehicles being photographed, as follows: top view (FIG.4A), left side view (FIG. 4B), first perspective view (FIG. 4C), wideend ¾ view with door closed (FIG. 4D), and a ¾ view of wide end portionwith door in open position (FIG. 4E). A hinged door 34 opens and closesto allow entry and exit of a vehicle to be photographed on aphotographic stage 40 in an enclosed volume 42. The hinged door 34 in aspecific embodiment, is positioned opposite the narrow apex of the ovoidportion 38. At least one handhold 41 is provided to facilitate manualrotation of the ovoid hemispherical dome photographic booth 30. An RFIDreader, alphanumeric reader, or automatic bar code reader 50 may bemounted at or above the entrance to read the identification tagassociated with a subject vehicle. The driver of the vehicle in someembodiments may have an RFID name tag to track who shot the images or tomonitor productivity. In some inventive embodiments, an automatic doorlock 43 is provided that automatically opens to allow the vehicle toback out following a complete set of preselected photographs being takenof the vehicle.

FIG. 5 illustrates a top cutaway view showing a vehicle V positioned inthe center 44 of a photographic stage 40, the vehicle generally centeredclose to the geometric focal point of the wider semi-circular portion 32of the ovoid hemispherical dome photographic booth 30, as shown in FIG.5 . The ovoid hemispherical dome 30 or the platform of the photographicstage 40 rides on a track 48 to provide rotation of the camera 36 andvehicle V relative to each other. The focal length FL at the apex 38 isgreater than the radius R of the circular platform of the photographicstage 40. In a specific inventive embodiment, the focal length isbetween 105-135 mm.

FIG. 6 illustrates the rotation of the ovoid hemispherical domephotographic booth 30 of FIGS. 4A-4E about a vehicle V on a stationaryphotographic stage 40. As shown letters A-L illustrate positions fortwelve trigger points of the camera 36, along a circular arc 46 tracedat the apex of the ovoid dome 30, where a set of images of the vehicle Vare taken. It is appreciated that the number of trigger points for thecamera may be higher or lower than twelve depending on the resolution ofvehicle shots required. For a nearly seamless 3D rotatable imagetwenty-four or more trigger points may be required. In a specificinventive embodiment, the photographic system may be self-running withmotorized wheels in the tracks or attached to the bottom of the walls ofthe ovoid dome 30 so that the ovoid dome 30 “drives” around the vehicleV automatically capturing images at intervals that are pre-determined byan end user. In still other inventive embodiments, the booth 30 ismanually lifted and/or pushed a new photographic position around thevehicle V, regardless of whether a track is present on which the boothturns. The camera may be tripped through a series of pins set along thetracks 48 at defined intervals. In a specific inventive embodiment, thecamera 36 is operated in a video mode, and a continuous video isobtained of the vehicle V as the camera 36 moves along the circular arc46. In an inventive embodiment, following a complete 360-degree rotationof the ovoid hemispherical dome photographic booth 30, the door 34 ofbooth may open for backing out the vehicle V, or booth 30 may continueanother 180 degrees so the vehicle V may pull forward and out.

Embodiments of the inventive enclosable ovoid hemispherical domephotographic booth 30 employ hidden lighting elements behind a horizonwall or hip wall in the form of a gray wall to create a contrast breakon the side of the vehicle with subtractive lighting. The subtractivelighting method produces a booth with all bounce lighting and 100%controlled reflections on the vehicle surfaces. No reflections of thelight sources or of the lighting fixtures themselves show up in thevehicle surface paint. Embodiments of the structure booth form a largesmooth white room, and then subtracting that white from the reflectionsusing the gray wall for contrast break in reflection. A totally whiteroom would make a subject vehicle look flat and dull with no contrast,and there would be no accent of the vehicles natural body lines. Theinventive enclosable dome booth employs an innovative continuous 360degree gray wall or partial 360, or straight sections creating the samecontrast break or hiding direct reflections of the lighting as shown inFIG. 4D with the swing door 34 closed, to produce a clean horizon linein the vehicle's reflections at all angles about the perimeter of thevehicle. The shape of the ovoid hemispherical dome photographic booth 30wraps light around the front and rear of the vehicle while also wrappingthe horizon reflection around the vehicle, which allows the vehicle tobe photographed from multiple angles and still have the same high endlook without the need to adjust the lighting or gray wall for each shotfor a given subject vehicle. A clean top edge of the horizon wall causesa crisp reflection in the vehicle and is the break point betweenhighlight and shadow. The use of a 360 degree gray wall differs from atypical professional studio (see FIG. 3A) where the “gray wall” isusually a strip of cloth hung on a pole and positioned between the carand the light source, and is only used on one side of the car being shotat that time and would be positioned based on what works for a singlecamera angle. The gray wall used in embodiments of the invention isunique in the fact that the gray wall is a fixed hard structure that isoptimized to give the desired reflection on a full range of vehicleshapes and sizes from multiple camera angles. Thus, while the viewingangle may change, the lighting style remains consistent across allviewpoints. The gray wall may be built from materials such as wood,composites, metals, etc., and may be in a fixed position or may berepositionable.

Embodiments of the inventive enclosable ovoid hemispherical domephotographic booth may use a curved horizon wall that both has a curvedface surface and also curves around the front and back of the vehicle.The angle of the horizon wall provides bounce lighting that providesfill for the lower part of the vehicle. It is appreciated that astraight hip wall, a slant wall, or a radius wall are all operativeherein. While it would be much easier to build the horizon wall as asimple vertical wall or as a slanted wall, the use of a curved faceaffords the lower part of the car some bounce fill light while notallowing the light to produce surface sheen on the wall and back to anyof the cameras. If the wall were merely a slant board some camera angleswould pick-up glare that would also show up as undesired reflections insome of the vehicle's surfaces. As light bounces off the curved graywall surface the light is redirected at many angles and thus neverbuilds up into a sheen, and still provides bounce light for the lowerarea of the vehicle. The radius of curvature of the gray wall panels maybe adjusted depending on the desired lighting effect. In embodiments ofthe inventive drive-in booth, the wall is also painted so that the wallmatches the floor color and tone as seen by the cameras. The blending ofthe wall with the floor is at the interface between the horizon wallsand the floor of the dome booth. Because the horizon wall is on adifferent plane and has a curved surface, the wall actually needs to bepainted one tone lighter than the floor to appear as the same tone tothe cameras. The horizon wall structure is also used as a place to mountand conceal the lighting. From the lighting mounted position, the lightsbrighten the upper portion of the dome with soft light and brightlylights the portion of the wall right above its top edge of the gray wallcreating the distinctive sunset like reflection in the vehicles paint.By creating an empty space or white bounce box between the back of thegray wall and the dome wall the strobe heads can be pointed downward sothe light bounces off the floor and then up the wall, whichsignificantly makes the beam of the light wider and gives a softerquality of light, while also dramatically cutting down on the amount ofspace needed between the gray wall and the structure wall. In a specificembodiment, the top of the gray wall is just 20″ away from the structurewall. It is noted that the versatile 360-degree horizon wall conceptwill work equally well in still photography, video, or three-dimensional(3D) rendering.

It is appreciated that computer-generated imagery (CGI) vehiclerendering is also accomplished with lighting angles of the presentinvention. If all the measurements are the same and the lighting valuesare the same, then the virtual vehicle would look pretty much the sameas a real vehicle in that environment. Even easier would be to shoot ahigh-dynamic-range imaging (HDRI) lighting map from the center of aninventive rotary stage. In simplest terms, a HDRI lighting dome is asphere where the inside has a 360 panoramic image projected upon it andthought of as huge stained-glass dome where the glass looks exactly likethe room as viewed from the center of the room and, has an infiniteamount of light being projected through it. When a reflective 3D objectlike a car is placed in that virtual environment, then the reflective 3Dobject will reflect the lighting setup exactly as it would in real life.In this example a series of photographs simulate a virtual room space.

FIG. 7 is a series of high-quality photographs obtained within thesystem of the booth 30 according to embodiments of the invention. It isnoted that to obtain this advertising quality look in a car photographwould normally take a professional photographer and two assistants thebetter part of a day to create these nine angles. The images as shown inFIG. 7 were captured and produced in 15 seconds with the horizon walllighting technique that give the vehicle a sunset look that accents thebody shape of the vehicle. It is also noted that although photographersmay set up single angles in this style, embodiments of the inventivedomed booth is the first to create the horizon look over 360 degrees ofvehicle reflection.

FIG. 8 is a system block diagram 100 of the major components forphotographing vehicles. A central process unit (CPU) 122 coordinates andcontrols the overall operation of the photographing system 100 that maybe operated in the ovoid hemispherical domed booth 30. The communicationinterface 124 is representative of various links and input connectionsand devices illustratively including but not limited to wired andwireless links, optical drives, universal serial bus (USB), flash memoryslot, and combinations thereof, for receiving and sending data that mayor may not be in real time. The bus 102 links the various components inthe system. Memory 116 serves as storage for operating programs andfirmware for the photographic system 100. A database with vehicle andclient information is stored in Memory 116. Memory 116 is made up ofread-only memory ROM and random-access memory (RAM). Graphics chipset120 drives a display 118. The display 118 may be liquid crystal display(LCD), light emitting diode (LED), or other known display technologies.Control interface 106 may include knobs, buttons, and other touchsensitive controls for selecting various menu items or for inputtingalphanumeric information. Sensors 104 sense the presence of a vehicleand the vehicle position. RFID/barcode 108 is a reader that detects andinterprets tags mounted to vehicles or driver identification (ID) cards.Cameras 110 and lighting 114 are controlled and sequenced by the CPU122; the cameras and/or lights triggered in a preselected sequence or insynchronicity. Indicators 112 provide visual feedback to system users.In inventive embodiments, the central process unit (CPU) 122, or masterand node computers, in the case of many cameras in use—these processingnodes speedup download and system throughput, and the CPU 122coordinates and controls the plurality of cameras in the ovoidhemispherical domed booth 30. By way of example, the CPU 122automatically adjusts lighting, the height and/or angle of a wall,camera triggering, camera f-stop, length of exposure, or combinationsthereof. In specific inventive embodiments, a communication interfaceconnects the plurality of cameras via one or more of wired and wirelesslinks, optical drives, universal serial bus (USB), flash memory slot,and combinations thereof for receiving and sending data.

FIG. 9 is a photograph showing a projection system display 150. In aspecific inventive embodiment, the projection system display 150 isprojected on to the wall of the photographic chamber and provides theview from a top down camera to aid a driver in centering a vehicle inthe photographic chamber. The projection system may also be used inconjunction with the vehicle data base to show a photographer step bystep which interior and details photos that are needed for that vehicle.For example, a sample graphic or photograph of the next shot needed isprojected along with notes on which lighting preset to use. Furthermore,the projection may provide consistency reminders like “straighten thesteering wheel”. The projection system may also display a running clockor countdown clock to keep the photographer moving according to thefacilities production schedule. If what is being projected is also beingrecorded, the operator's performance can be evaluated against thedirection given by the automated system. It is noted that since theflash units for the image taking cameras are so much brighter than theprojected image, the projection image is washed out and never shows upin the photographs.

As a person skilled in the art will recognize from the previous detaileddescription and from the figures and claims, modifications and changescan be made to the preferred embodiments of the invention withoutdeparting from the scope of this invention defined in the followingclaims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A system for photographing a vehicle, thesystem comprising: a drive-in booth shaped as an ovoid hemisphericaldome having a wider semi-circular portion and a narrower ovoid portion;a camera mounted at an apex of said ovoid portion at a focal length fromthe vehicle, where the focal length is greater than a radius of thesemi-circular portion, said camera providing images or video to acomputing system to generate 3D data from the vehicle positioned in thedrive-in booth; a lighting system positioned to illuminate an interiorof said drive-in booth; and a tracking system to actuate said camera orsaid lighting system.
 2. The system of claim 1 further comprising adatabase in communication with said camera and receiving imagestherefrom.
 3. The system of claim 1 wherein said camera is positioned sothat the vehicle is in focus when said camera is equipped with a lenswith a focal length that is between 105-135 mm.
 4. The system of claim 1further comprising a hinged door adapted to receive the vehicletherethrough.
 5. The system of claim 4 wherein said hinged door ispositioned opposite an apex of said ovoid portion.
 6. The system ofclaim 1 wherein an enclosed volume of said drive-in booth defines acircular stage for holding the vehicle, the circular stage having asecond radius that is equivalent to the radius of the semi-circularportion of the ovoid hemispherical dome.
 7. The system of claim 6further comprising a track, wherein said ovoid hemispherical dome orsaid circular stage rides on said track to provide rotation of saidcamera and vehicle relative to each other.
 8. The system of claim 7further comprising a series of pins set along the track at definedintervals or a motorized wheel mechanically coupled to said track. 9.The system of claim 1 further comprising a plurality of lights aimedinto said drive-in booth that trigger in a predetermined sequence or insynchronicity based on a position of the vehicle within said drive-inbooth.
 10. The system of claim 1 further comprising a central processunit (CPU) in operational control of at least one of said camera, saidlighting system, and movement of one or more of said ovoid hemisphericaldome, a circular stage, or a wall.
 11. The system of claim 1 furthercomprising a wall that implements subtractive lighting on the surface ofthe vehicle.
 12. The system of claim 1 further comprising a radiofrequency identification (RFID) reader or alphanumeric reader foridentifying vehicle and client parameters upon entry of the vehicle intosaid booth.
 13. The system of claim 12 wherein said RFID reader or saidalphanumeric reader obtains a vehicle identification number (VIN) of thevehicle to be processed or information about the vehicle, theinformation being one or more of vehicle make, model, body style, andvehicle color.
 14. The system of claim 13 wherein said VIN or theinformation is input to a central process unit (CPU), said CPU inoperational control of at least one of said camera, said lightingsystem, and movement of one or more of said ovoid hemispherical dome, acircular stage, or a wall.
 15. A process for photographing a vehiclewith the system of claim 1 comprising: positioning the vehicle in saidbooth; selectively illuminating a first subset of lights arrayed in saidbooth; collecting a first photograph of a plurality of photographs ofthe vehicle with illumination from said first subset of lights;advancing said ovoid hemispherical dome or a circular stage to a secondposition; selectively illuminating a second subset of lights arrayed insaid booth; collecting a second photograph of the plurality ofphotographs of the vehicle while in motion and with illumination fromsaid second subset of lights; and advancing said ovoid hemisphericaldome or said circular stage to further positions until a predefinednumber of photos are obtained.
 16. The process of claim 15 furthercomprising reading a radio frequency identification (RFID) oralphanumerical code associated with the vehicle with an RFID reader oran alphanumeric reader.
 17. The process of claim 15 further comprisingautomatic adjustment of lighting, a height of a wall within said booth,an angle of said wall within said booth, camera operation, or acombination thereof.
 18. The process of claim 15 further comprisinguploading the collection of photographs of the plurality of photographsto a web template for display and recordation.
 19. The process of claim15 wherein the selectively illuminating is a sunset horizon style oflighting.
 20. The process of claim 15 further comprising applyingsubtractive lighting in the selectively illuminating.